A variety of cleansing systems have been used to remove dirt and dead skin from the body and moisturize the cleansed skin. Such systems include the use of moisturizing lotion after the use of a soap or surfactant in combination with a cleaning instrument such as terry wash clothes, soft and brittle, and various cleaning pads, scouring pads, natural and synthetic sponges, etc.
Prior art cleaning and moisturizing personal cleansing kits have some disadvantages which have limited their effectiveness in personal skin care. Many cleansers, for example, are in fact harsh. Most do not contain an effective amount of a moisturizer. Many mild liquid cleansers traditionally do not lather well. Likewise, some cleaning instruments do not lather well when used with liquid cleansers. This is particularly so when milder liquid cleansers are used. Other cleansing instruments become water logged. Some make it difficult to remove the water containing the removed dirt from the instrument. Some impede lather; which is especially true for liquid cleansing and moisturizing cleansers. Yet other instruments absorb the oil conditioner in cleansing and moisturizing products. Others retain the water and often develop unpleasant odors, as well as become a place for breeding of bacteria, germs, mold, etc. Yet other instruments absorb the oil conditioner in cleansing and moisturizing products and thereby compete with the skin.
In addition, many of the instruments have very low strength and are easily destroyed after they have been used several times.
The need for mild skin cleansing system is made more acute by the need to wash more often to reduce body odors in city crowds and by the aging of the human population and the ever-increasing environmental insult to which the skin is subject. The mildest skin cleansing products can, at best, produce cleansing without negatively affecting the skin condition. To achieve an improvement in skin condition, the consumer is forced to use a second, separate product often called a "moisturizer". The use of two separate products to achieve the desired skin state is inconvenient and often unpleasant due to the greasy skin feel resultant from many moisturizers. As a result, many persons suffer from the effects of poor skin condition rather than use two separate products.
There is a clear need for a system which is capable of delivering both mild skin cleansing and a skin conditioning benefit; since most people don't use a moisturizer daily. Some skin cleansing products contain humectant substances which, although effective in topical application, are ineffective in cleansing products. These humectants are ineffective because they are very water soluble and suffer from poor skin substantivity. Hydrophobic emollient materials are generally more substantive to the skin, but are more difficult to incorporate into an aqueous skin cleansing matrix and/or are absorbed into traditional cleansing instruments. There are also at least two other sources of difficulty typically encountered with such liquid cleansers: poor lather effects and physically unstable product.
The present invention allows for the use of a selected hydrophobic sponge with a lathering cleansing and moisturizing liquid cleanser containing an effective amount of a hydrophilic, oily or hydrophobic moisturizer and mixtures thereof.
The present invention allows for the use of higher levels of humectants in a "cleansing and moisturizing" lathering liquid to provide a cleansing system which is better lathering, milder and more effective than the prior art kits.